Eat Your Vegetables!

I cooked for a client yesterday and the menu included tons of vegetables. My shopping list included:
3 kinds of lettuces, fennel, carrots, baby bella mushrooms, new potatoes, zucchini, onions, spinach, carrots, green beans, green onion, red pepper, cucumber and tomato...did I leave anything out?

And fresh herbs: cilantro, Italian parsley, thyme, chives, and basil.

When I arrive at a client's house on a cook day, after unloading the groceries and my equipment, I wash all the vegetables, then get to work.

The carrots and potatoes got roasted,the fennel went into a pasta dish, the green beans got blanched, then added to carmelized onions and stewed tomatoes (forgot to take a picture of that!), the zucchini got grilled.


On the menu also was a large green salad with homemade vinaigrette and grilled shrimp. I bought three kinds of lettuce: boston, green leaf and red romaine. These are the vegetables that the client can use to top the salad: carrots, red pepper, green onion, cucumber, celery and tomatoes.

Fresh vegetables are so delicious and so good for you! Eat as much as you like, most are extremely low in calories.

New Year, New Cookbooks

As a personal chef, I'm always looking for new recipes to try in hopes I'll come across something new and fabulous that I can share with my clients. I subscribe to 5 or 6 cooking magazines and am constantly buying and acquiring cookbooks.

I have three new cookbooks that I'm working my way through: One: recipes using the pressure cooker, two: a creme brulee cookbook, because I've been interested in trying some savory-style custards, and my new favorite, Around My French Table. Tonight I'll be testing from this cookbook, a chicken recipe, a rice and spinach recipe and a vegetable side dish. Can't wait! Hope my husband is hungry.

This weekend, I tested one of the savory recipes from the Creme Brulee cookbook, using Corn and Roasted Red Pepper. It turned out really good and was pretty easy to make.

After prepping all the ingredients, you fill the custard cups with the vegetables and cheese, then add the custard and bake in a waterbath. Then, even though this was a savory creme brulee, the recipe still called for topping with a bit of sugar and burning the top to get it crispy. Surprisingly, this bit of sweetness gave it a really great contrast to the savory filling.

I served this with a roasted chicken. I used Ina Garten's recipe for "perfect roast chicken". That recipe is also a winner.

There are several more savory style recipes in this Creme Brulee cookbook that I definetely want to try, as well as many sweet versions, including lots of chocolate ones. As I work my way through these, I'm sure there will be lots of winners that will make a great side dish or dessert that will be great for dinner parties.

Chocolate Torte

I'm cheffing a dinner party Saturday night for 10 people and needed to test the dessert I plan to serve. A chocolate torte. Last night was our monthly knitting night so I took the cake there to get the girls to taste it and give their opinions.....the cake got a thumbs up!

This recipe is quite simple and didn't take a lot of time to prepare. But it turned out like I hoped, moist and chocolatey. You use bittersweet chocolate, chopped and melted. Eggs, separated and the egg whites beaten and folded in, nuts, butter, and a little bit of sugar.


Then, bake for about 40 minutes.


When the cake was done, I was running late so I don't have a picture of the whole cake, but here's a slice ready to be served.



Saturday night, I'll also make a fruit syrup to go with the cake and to decorate each plate.

Thanks to all the girls at knitting night last night for being my guinea pigs and giving the thumbs up on this dessert!

Here's the recipe:

Capri Chocolate Torte

1 1/2 cups walnuts
1/3 cup all purpose flour
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
14 tablespoons sugar
7 large eggs, separated, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, rack in the middle. Butter a 9-inch springform pan, line with wax paper. Finely grind walnuts with flour in processor, set aside. Stir chocolate in top of double boiler over simmering water til melted and smooth. Remove chocolate from over water and cool slightly.

Beat butter and 7 tablespoons sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in melted chocolate. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each. Mix in ground walnut mixture.

Beat egg whites in another bowl until beginning to form soft peaks. Gradually add 7 remaining tablespoons sugar. Beat to soft peaks. Stir 1/4 whites into batter, then fold in remaining whites

Bake about 40 minutes. Cool 10 minutes on rack. Run knife around sides to loosen cake. Release pan sides and cool completely. Transfer to cake platter.

Hazelnut Squares

I just finished making these from the December issue of Bon Apppetit, page 122, called Chocolate-Dipped Hazelnut Caramel Squares. Only mine are drizzled, not dipped. They were not difficult at all to make and are delicious!

The only special equipment you need is a candy thermometer to make the caramel layer. You combine butter, sugar, honey, orange peel and cream and cook till it reaches 230 degrees.



You make the cookie crust (forgot to take a picture of this), then make the caramel sauce, adding chopped hazelnuts, spread mixture over cooked cookie crust and bake another 10 minutes.

And viola!

Add to a festive Holiday plate and you're ready to go. Here's the recipe:

Chocolate-Dipped Hazelnut Caramel Squares

The Crust:
2 cups flour
1 cup packed golden brown sugar
1/3 tsp salt
3/4 cup cold butter, cut into cubes

Mix in food processor till consistency of meal. Press into 13X9X2 metal pan, lined with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

The Caramel:
2/3 cup sugar
6 tbsp heavy whipping cream
2 tsp freshly grated orange zest
6 tbsp butter
1/3 cup orange blossom honey
1/4 chopped candied orange peel (I did not use this)
5 ounces hazelnuts

Mix all ingredients excepts hazelnuts in heavy saucepan. Boil till reaches 230 degrees, about 6 minutes. Add nuts and spread immediately onto cookie crust. Bake another 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool about 15 minutes before cutting into squares.

The Chocolate:
Melt 8 oz bittersweet chocolate in bowl over simmering water. Dip corner of cut cookie into chocolate, or drizzle with chocolate.

Brussels Sprouts

I really like Brussels Sprouts! My husband, not so much. But, recently I found Brussels Sprouts still on the stalk --- $3.99 at the Dekalb Farmers market---so of course I had to buy it because it looked so cool! This would make a great centerpiece (if you have the right device to hold it up). I called on my Facebook friends for recipes and my neighbor Joe Bickley had a great recipe.

I made it last night and it was great! And the colors will make for a beautiful addition to the Holiday table. I used some of the pine nuts I've been saving that I brought back from Paris.

Here's the recipe:

1 lb Brussels Sprouts
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp peanut oil
1/4 pine nuts, toasted
1/4 golden raisins, plumped in warm water
1/4 cup dried cranberries
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt/pepper to taste

Slice Brussels sprouts and saute in butter and oil, seasoning with a little salt. Saute for 8-10 minutes, til tender. Add remaining ingredients and toss.


I served them with pork sauteed with apples, prunes, and mustard.


Thanks, Joe!

Leftover Turkey

Thanksgiving has come and gone and we still have a ton of leftovers. One of my clients also had leftovers and asked me if I could come up with a way to use leftover turkey. I suggested Turkey Pot Pies and I included that in yesterday's cookdate for them.

Here's how I did it:

3 carrots - sliced
1 white potato - large dice
1 onion - chopped
3 stalks celery - chopped
1 cup frozen green peas
2 cups chopped leftover turkey - large dice
3 tbsp flour
1 cup white wine
2 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup half and half
salt and pepper to season
1 tbsp fresh thyme

Blanch carrots for 4 minutes. Blanch peas for 1 minute. Cook potato till tender in water used to blanch. Saute onion and celery till tender. Add blanched carros, peas, potatoes and turkey. Stir in flour, cooking about 1 minute. Stir in wine till smooth. Add chicken broth, simmer till sauce is thickened. Add half and half. Season with salt, pepper and thyme.Roll out pastry dough large enough to cover insides of crock completely (you can use frozen pie crust too). Fill with turkey pot pie filling. Roll dough to make top. Seal and slit for venting. Cook at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, till dough is browned.



I'll be making these for us too since we have turkey leftovers still. I made stock over the weekend and have 5 quarts in the freezer now. I hate to waste food! Hopefully we'll get through our leftovers by the end of the week. I might be ready for a hamburger!

Finger Limes

Last week, I visited my son who lives in Los Angeles. My first stop after landing was the Farmer's Market at the 3rd Street Promenade. It was Wednesday, the market day, and I headed straight there. When I lived in Los Angeles, this was one of my favorite things to do and one of my favorite markets there.

I happened upon something I had never heard of: Finger Limes. The vendor let me sample one and I had to have it! They were selling the carton for $10 each or you could buy the limes 2 for $1. I bought four.


Later that night, Alex had a friend over and I cooked dinner for the three of us, sauteed red snapper and vegetables from the market. We "played" with the limes as a topping for our fish.





Finger limes originate from Australia and are now being grown in California. They're shaped like a small pickle. When you slice them open, squeeze from the bottom, and out comes this citrus caviar! When it's in your mouth, it pops like citrus pop rocks! So much fun and delicious and so exciting finding a new food! It was really good with the fish and added to our dinner conversation.

We had a great visit and it was also good to be back at one of my favorite markets on a beautiful day in Los Angeles.